Will the Racers Be Murray State?

Year Two in the Valley

(St. Louis, MO) – Murray State’s basketball program has a proud tradition of excellence and success. Conference championships, players moving on to the NBA, 20-win seasons are what the basketball fans are accustomed to enjoy. The big question surrounding this year’s team is ‘will the Racers be Murray State?’

Murray State has won 14 conference or division championships and participated in eight NCAA Tournaments since 2000. During that same time period, three Racers (Isaiah Canaan, Cameron Payne and Ja Morant) have been drafted by NBA teams.

In other words, will the program begin to assert itself during its second season in the Missouri Valley Conference? Head coach Steve Prohm is a ‘Murray Guy’ who knows, loves and embodies the Murray State culture and values. 2022-23 was a sub-standard Murray State season.

During Prohm’s first season back at the Racer helm, Murray (17-15, 11-9) finished seventh with a completely overhauled roster from Matt McMahon’s final year in Kentucky. A year of Valley experience has helped Prohm understand what is needed to be a Valley contender.

Prohm says the level of physicality of the Valley compared to the Ohio Valley Conference is very different. He describes the twenty-game conference schedule as a gauntlet.

The need for bigger and more physical players was evident and Prohm went looking for such players. Murray’s long range game was less effective as usual too, so the Racer coach went looking for some snipers.

Malek Abdelgowad and Eastern Illinois transfer Nick Ellington are two of those forwards and freshman Lawrent Rice and Mercer transfer Shawn Walker may help in the backcourt. Abdelgowad was ranked as last season’s  twenty-fourth best junior college player. Ellington produced an active season at EIU. The 6’7 forward averaged 7.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, recorded 19 steals and 30 blocks.

Walker shot 40% from deep and averaged 8.5 points at Mercer. Some are calling Rice, the next great Murray State guard.

Prohm says they had to get bigger and continue to work on a schedule that prepares them for league play and enhances their national reputation.

Will the Racers Be Murray State? – Defense

Prohm’s four most significant returners are Rob Perry, JaCobi Wood, Quincy Anderson and Brian Moore. Perry (14.4 ppg & 4.8 rebounds), a third-team, all-conference player returned after applying for the NBA draft. Wood was the Valley’s third leading assist man. Moore and Anderson were statistically the team’s best three-point shooters.

Those four are the nucleus.

Prohm says Anderson is a ‘Murray guy’ who exhibits toughness and competitiveness. Perry took a look at the NBA and Prohm was able to help the 6’4 wing understand what he needed to improve for NBA teams to take notice.

Murray’s defense was not up to Valley standards. The Racers finished tenth in scoring defense and eleventh in steals. Anderson says his father taught him to ‘do whatever it takes’ to win a game and Anderson believes improving on the defensive end is the key to Murray’s 2023-24 success.

Perry has set a goal to become one of the Valley’s top defenders. One of those NBA lessons he learned was about his need on the defensive end of the floor.

Will the Racers Be Murray State? – Cohesion

Last season’s completely rebuilt roster, made it a season of transition in more ways than one. Murray fielded a new roster, with a new coach, in a new league. Those factors made the 2022-23 season a difficult one to grade. With all that transition, a winning season (conference and overall) was a success. By Murray State standards, however, last year was not good enough.

JaCobi Wood averaged the most minutes of any Valley player and he says having a second season to play with returning players will play a significant role in Murray State’s ability to increase its win total.

We started calling Perry ‘NBA Rob’ and the Stetson transfer has accumulated over 1,500 career points and was named to the league’s second-team, all-conference squad. Wood says Perry has ‘parking-lot range’ when it comes to making threes.

Perry says Prohm’s desire to see his players grow in all aspects of life is what drew him to Murray in the first place and that was a significant factor in his return this season. He also brags on Wood’s leadership amongst the players.

Fans should expect more from last year’s talented freshman class. Justin Morgan, Sam Murray and redshirt freshman Patrick Chew could play expanded roles this season.

This is a program that won’t stay in the middle of the pack very long. The Racers may stay near the middle this season, but look for marked improvement this year with exponential growth in the near future.

Do Good

 

Editor: Cover photo credit – Maeve Coulter